05-21-2008, 04:18 AM
The stakes that have been found were of oak, but oak doesn't rot nearly as quickly as elm. I don't know if they have hickory or not in Europe, but I have it in my front yard and to the east of my driveway. I have a 5" hickory that has to be removed. I should be able to get two of these out of that.
I don't have any pine, though many people around here have cut dimensional 4 x 4 and made them, some even have used pressure treated pine, like you'd use for a deck. I don't think pine is a good choice, but it's what many people use. Is it historical? Well, regular pine from the lumber yard is not the same pine as found in Europe, in fact much of it may even be a modern hybrid that didn't exist in ancient times anywhere. Near me, the only pine (about 30 miles away) is called Loblolly Pine. It's not a tall and straight as Ridgepole pine, but it's pretty straight when it grows densely. I might get a tree and cut a few from that.
I'm certain that Blackjack Oak is a Texas variety, and not native to Europe. Likewise, Mountain Juniper isn't either. But I have it all over the place. I'm acting on the assumption that they would have used what they had when they needed it, rather than sending off for a supply of oak from somewhere else, when they needed to make a couple of hundred more stakes to finish off a fort.
In short, not one single species of native tree that is available to me without an import of raw lumber from across the Atlantic is the same wood that would have been available to ancient Romans, and there's little proof that even if I did import European wood, that it would be the same species that the Romans used for the few samples that have been found. (are all of those from the same species of oak? I don't know.) Shall I then just cancel making any because I don't find myself financially able to import certifiably authenticated "ancient wood" from Central and Southern Europe? What did they use in Israel? Africa? Britain? Same species? How do we know?
I'm not taking away from anything anyone else has done. I think the trio you photographed are about as close to what I've seen in picture of the original finds as I've seen anywhere. Naturally, there were different lengths and thicknesses, but that probably had to do with what was available at the time they were made, and I suspect it was simply a function of need and materials present. Chances are they had to be at least a certain thickness so a stout sword slash or axe stroke didn't just cut through them.
FTR, though, Romans, and other peoples in the Mediterranean did and do build things with pine, though it's not quite like the pine around here. And if it warps, so it warps. Green-cut wood will do that when it dries sometimes.
I don't have any pine, though many people around here have cut dimensional 4 x 4 and made them, some even have used pressure treated pine, like you'd use for a deck. I don't think pine is a good choice, but it's what many people use. Is it historical? Well, regular pine from the lumber yard is not the same pine as found in Europe, in fact much of it may even be a modern hybrid that didn't exist in ancient times anywhere. Near me, the only pine (about 30 miles away) is called Loblolly Pine. It's not a tall and straight as Ridgepole pine, but it's pretty straight when it grows densely. I might get a tree and cut a few from that.
I'm certain that Blackjack Oak is a Texas variety, and not native to Europe. Likewise, Mountain Juniper isn't either. But I have it all over the place. I'm acting on the assumption that they would have used what they had when they needed it, rather than sending off for a supply of oak from somewhere else, when they needed to make a couple of hundred more stakes to finish off a fort.
In short, not one single species of native tree that is available to me without an import of raw lumber from across the Atlantic is the same wood that would have been available to ancient Romans, and there's little proof that even if I did import European wood, that it would be the same species that the Romans used for the few samples that have been found. (are all of those from the same species of oak? I don't know.) Shall I then just cancel making any because I don't find myself financially able to import certifiably authenticated "ancient wood" from Central and Southern Europe? What did they use in Israel? Africa? Britain? Same species? How do we know?
I'm not taking away from anything anyone else has done. I think the trio you photographed are about as close to what I've seen in picture of the original finds as I've seen anywhere. Naturally, there were different lengths and thicknesses, but that probably had to do with what was available at the time they were made, and I suspect it was simply a function of need and materials present. Chances are they had to be at least a certain thickness so a stout sword slash or axe stroke didn't just cut through them.
FTR, though, Romans, and other peoples in the Mediterranean did and do build things with pine, though it's not quite like the pine around here. And if it warps, so it warps. Green-cut wood will do that when it dries sometimes.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
